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Some releases may not be showing locally this week.
21 (PG-13) Based on the true life-story
of card-counting MIT kids who bilked
some Las Vegas casinos for millions,
21 is a crowd pleasing slice of instantly
forgettable entertainment. 21 isn’t a bad
story, but it deals some clichbd cards.
A better director and a more challeng
ing script could have turned 21's true
tale into something more significant.
88 MINUTES (R) Nine years earlier.
Dr. Jack Gramm (a distractingly coiffed
A! Pacino), a forensic psychiatrist and
college professor, gave the damning
evidence that sent Jon Forster (Neil
McDonough) to death row. On the eve
of his execution, one of Jack’s students
is murdered using Forster’s exact M.O.,
and Jack receives a phone call declar
ing the gruff prof has 88 minutes to live,
and must solve the mystery before time
runs out. I felt like I was watching a less
sexy knockoff of Jade. Still, between
Untraceable and 88 Minutes. 2008 has
given pay cable a decent double bill for
a rainy Sunday spent on the couch.
ARCTIC TALE (G) Pretty pictures,
obnoxious anthropomorphization.
Armed with an obvious agenda, film
makers Adam Ravetch and Sarah
Robertson take the idea of an old
Disney nature film -animal actions are
ascribed to very human motives -and
make an infinitely less convincing
global warming tract than Al Gore’s An
Inconvenient Truth. Were Arctic Tale
chronicling the life cycle of that frozen
wild, like March of the Penguins, rather
than positing that walrus Seala and
polar bear Nanoo's quality of life is
deteriorating by our human standards.
I might have warmed to the film. It's not
that I doubt the harsh realities facing
our polar pals; I just sense Ravetch and
Robertsons film to be more a triumph
of manipulative, specious, assump
tive narrative editing than one of valid
documentation.
BABY MAMA PG-13) Former'SNL’
Weekend Update anchors Tina Fey
and Amy Poehler have reteamed for a
seriously funny movie about infertility
and surrogacy, not exactly two subjects
naturally associated with yuks. Forced
to live together for the duration of the
pregnancy. Kate and Angie forge an
Odd Couple-like bond. Baby Mama is
not simply an “SNL” sketch stretched
beyond its limits. Heck, the film com
pels Steve Martin, as a self-absorbed,
organic market magnate with a pony
tail. to be funny for the first time since
1999’s Bowfinger. The rest of the sup
porting cast executes their roles prop
erly as well. As the token love interest,
Greg Kinnear pretty much makes cute
and stays out of the way. But this
baby belongs to the mamas, Fey and
Poehler, not the daddies, finally putting
to rest the sexist assumption that men
are funnier than women.
THE BUCKET LIST (PG-13) If not for
the magnetic allure of Jack Nicholson
agd Morgan Freeman, director Rob
Reiner might finally have tumbled to
the bottom of moviemaking's own pit
of despair. Hampered by its schmaltzy
script, The Bucket List is a road movie
for the terminally ill.
DECEPTION (R) Sporting a generic,
direct-to-video moniker like Deception,
Hugh Jackman's first feature as a
producer should at least deliver some
whiplash-inducing twists and turns.
Instead, this overwrought flick has
the most unsafisfyingly straight up
climax I've ever seen from the “you
haven't been crossed until you've been
triple-crossed’ thriller sub-genre. An
accountant. Jonathan McQuarry (Ewan
McGregor), meets a suave lawyer,
Wyatt Bose (Jackman), who takes him
to a sleazy underground sex club where
Jonathan meets an anonymous blonde
(Michelle Williams) Before Jonathan
can wrap his number-crunching brain
around his newlound luck, the woman
disappears. Jonathan's the prime sus
pect. Wyatt isn't actually Wyatt, and S20
million is stolen. Toss in some serious
implausibility, arid a terribly aggressive
score, and Deception makes for one
unnecessary filmgoing experience
EXPELLED: NO INTELLIGENCE
ALLOWED (PG) Equating scientific
acceptance of Darwin's theory of evolu
tion with communism, the intelligent
design promoting, evolution slander
ing Expelled castigates many of the
world's top evolutionary biologists for
their passionate adherence to a “mere’
theory and their dogged resistance
to unprovable intelligent design.
Fashioned in the image of a Michael
Moore documentary (without the
acerbic wit), Expelled chronicles Ben
Stein’s counterfeitly naive journey to
discover why scientists who believe in
intelligent design are being muzzled by
the establishment. We need all kinds of
perspectives represented in films and
literature, but the only intelligence not
allowed in the disingenuous Expelled
is that of the viewer.
FLAWLESS (PG-13) Another mod
heist flick released this close to The
Bank Job, Flawless stars Demi Moore
as Laura Quinn, an executive frustrated
by the glass ceiling she keeps bumping
her head on. Sensing an easy mark,
knowledgeable veteran janitor Hobbs
(Michael Caine) convinces Laura to
help rob their employer, the London
Diamond Corporation. Director Michael
Radford, an Academy Award nominee
for II Postino, and first-time screen
writer Edward Anderson lack the tricks
needed to outfox the excellent Bank
Job. and Moore's joyless presence is
stifling. The only flawless diamond in
this film is Caine, yet not even he is
brilliant enough to brighten this drab
crime drama.
FOOL'S GOLD (PG-13) Fool's Gold
is as lazy and dumb as its cartoonish
main character, treasure salvager Finn
(Matthew McConaughey) A dud in
every way.
THE FORBIDDEN KINGDOM
(PG-13) Jackie Chan and Jet Lis first
MOVIE LISTINGS
Theater schedules often change after our deadline. Please call ahead.
ACC LIBRARY (706-613-3650)
New Year Baby (NR) 7:00 (Th. 5/8)
BEECHWOOD (706-546-1011)
Due to production deadlines. Beechwood movie times are
only accurate through May 8. Visit www Flagpo'e.com for
updated times.
21 (PG-13) 4:05, 6:50, 9:35
88 Minutes (R) 4:05, 6:50, 9:25
Baby Mama (PG-13) 5:30, 7:45, 10:00
Deception (R) 9:50
The Forbidden Kingdom (PG-13) 4:25, 7:10, 9:45
Forgetting Sarah Marshall (R) 4:15, 6:55, 9:40
Harold & Kumar Escape From Guantanamo Bay (R)
4:20, 7:20, 9:55
Iron Man (PG-13)4:00, 5:30, 7:00, 8:30, 10:00
Made of Honor (PG-13) 4:40, 7:15, 9:35
Nim's Island (PG) 5:20, 7:35
Prom Night (PG-13) 4:35, 7:25, 9:40
CARMIKE 12 (706-354-0016)
Baby Mama (PG-13) 1:15, 4:25, 7:15, 9:35
Deception (R) 1:30, 4:15, 7:00, 9:30 (ends Th. 5/8)
Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed (PG) 7:00, 10:00
(ends Th. 5/8)
The Forbidden Kingdom (PG-13) 1:15, 4:15, 7:15,
9:50 (ends Th. 5/8)
Forgetting Sarah Marshall (R) 1:30, 4:15, 7:00, 9:40
Harold & Kumar Escape From Guantanamo Bay (R)
1:45, 4:30, 7:00, 9:45
Horton Hears a Who! (G) 1:00, 4:00 (ends Th. 5/8)
Iron Man (PG-13) 1:00, 1:15, 1:30, 2:00, 4:00, 4:15,
4:30, 5:00, 7:00, 7:15, 7:30, 8:00, 9:50, 10:05, 10:20,
10:50 (new times F. 5/9: 1:00, 1:15, 2:00, 4:00, 4:15,
5:00, 7:00, 7:15, 8:00, 9:50, 10:05)
Made of Honor (PG-13) 1:45, 4:15, 7:00, 9:30
Prom Night (PG-13) 1:10, 3:20, 5:30, 7:40. 9:50
Redbelt (R) 12:45. 3:00, 5:15. 7:30. 9:45 (opens F.
5/9)
Speed Racer (PG) 12:45, 1:15. 4:00, 4:30. 7:00, 7:30,
10:10, 10:30 (opens F. 5/9)
What Happens in Vegas... (PG-13) 12:30, 2:50, 5:15,
7:40. 10:10 (opens F. 5/9)
CINE (706-353-3343)
Arctic Tale (G) 2:00 (Sa. 5/10-Su. 5/11)
Flawless (PG-13) 4:30, 7:30, 9:45 (starts F. 5/9) (no
4:30 Sa. 5/10-Su. 5/11)
Girls Rock! (PG) 4:30, 7:30, 9:30 (W. 5/7-Th. 5/8)
2:15, 4:30 (Sa. 5/10-Su. 5/11)
Married Life (PG-13) 4:15, 7:15, 9:45 (ends Th. 5/8)
Snow Angels (R) 8:00, 10:00 (starts F. 5/9)
Under the Same Moon (PG-13) 4:00, 6:00 (starts F.
5/9)
GEORGIA SQUARE 5 (706-548-3426)
Due to production deadlines. Georgia Square Five movie
times are only accurate through May 8. Visit www.Flagpole.
com for updated times.
The Bucket List (PG-13) 7:10
Fool's Gold (PG-13) 4:15, 7:15, 9:45
The Other Boleyn Girl (PG-13) 4:05, 7:05, 9:40
Shutter (PG-13) 4:20, 7:20, 9:50
The Spiderwick Chronicles (PG) 5:30, 7:45, 10:00
Vantage Point (PG-13) 4:10, 9:55
HWY 17 DRIVE-IN THEATERS (706-213-7693)
Horton Hears a Who! (G) 8:30 (F. 5/2-Su. 5/4)
on-screen pairing is the only excit
ing aspect of the listless Forbidden
Kingdom. Modern American teen,
Jason Tripitikas (Michael Angarano).
gets transported to ancient China
when he discovers a magical staff in
a pawn shop. The fighting sequences
are well-choreographed Crouching
Tiger knockoffs at which Li could excel
blindfolded, and the 54-year-old Chan
retains his comic charm. However,
every scene than doesn't involve fight
ing is poorly paced and blandly shot.
The silly story has potential; this family
friendly chopsocky flick would have
been a perfect English-language debut
for Kung Fu Hustles Stephen Chow
FORGETTING SARAH MARSHALL
(R) Since January. 2008s best films
have all been holdovers from 2007.
allowing the juvenilely mature, bust-a-
gut hilarious Forgetting Sarah Marshall
to waltz right into that vacant top spot
Peter Bretter has just had his heart
broken by his TV star girlfriend, Sarah
Marshall. Now Peter must get over
Sarah, with her and Aldous constantly
humping in his face, with the help of
his new friends Nothing special can
be said about Nicholas Stoller's direc
tion (then again. FSM producer Judd
Apatow isn't exactly Scorsese), but the
cast and Segel's script, balancing low
brow sex gags with a heartfelt tale of
heartbreak and woe. are darn near per
fect. I haven't laughed so collectively
hard with a theater full of strangers-
since Superbad.
FRONTIER(S) (NC-17) Will Hitman
director Xavier Gens' first film, the
wildly violent Frontier(s). ever see the
dark of an American theater 7 A group
of young thieves flee Paris for the
secluded countryside where the real
horror lives at an inn run by neo-Nazis
If you believe the tour things missing
from the multiplex is ultraviolence
pregnant felons French politics and
more fascists than you can shake a
stick at. Frontier(s) should fill the void
with bloody spades
GIRLS ROCK! IPG; It you didn I
think girls could rock, think again At
the Rock ’n' Roll Camp for Girls four
attendees ranging in age from eight
to 18—adopted Laura (15. vocals),
recovering meth addict Misty (17.
bass), sweet metalhead Palace (7
vocals), and dog-loving Amelia (8
guitar)—learn to form a band write
songs, plays gigs, and generally
behave in ways discouraged by years
of gender stereotyping Girls Flock 1
is the feature debut of directors Arne
Johnson and Shane King
HAROLD & KUMAR ESCAPE
FROM GUANTANAMO BAY (R) Due
to more selfish stupidity on Kumar's
part (smoking pot on an airplane), the
duo end up in Guantanamo from which
they promptly escape. Back in the
U S.. Harold and Kumar have several
politically incorrect and devastatingly
unfunny encounters with denizens of
the South (African Americans, inbred
rednecks, the Klan) and Neil Patrick
Harris as “Neil Patrick Harris’ while
on their way to crash the wedding of
Kumar's ex-girlfriend (Danneel Harris.
“One Tree Hill’) and her presidential^
connected fianc6. Writing/direct
ing team Jon Hurwitz and Hayden
Schlossberg tackle bigger issues
(governmental subversion of the rule of
law) than getting to White Castle in this
sequel, but the “South Park“-ian task of
mixing juvenile humor and politically
astute commentary is beyond their
meager talent for devising amusing,
marijuana-driven scenarios.
HORTON HEARS A WHO! (G) The
1954 children's classic about Horton
the Elephant (v. Jim Carrey), whose
giant ears allow him to communicate
with the tiny speck that is the town of
Whoville is one of the good doctor's
most beloved tales, right behind Green
Eggs and Ham The laughs in Horton
are nevfr cheap or juvenile, yet they are
perfectly pitched for little ones' ears.
IRON MAN (PG-13) See Movie Pick
MADE OF HONOR (PG-13) Patrick
Dempsey is Tom. a serial dater who
decides his best friend. Hannan
(Michelle Monaghan), is his soul
mate Too bad she's now engaged
to a Scotsman (Kevin McKidd from
"Journeyman'), and Tom is the Maid
of Honor. Now Tom must stop the
wedding from the inside if he wants
Hannah for himself I think this enter
taining romcom looks like the perfect
vehicle to launch the former teen idol
from television heartthrob to big-time
movie star.
MARRIED LIFE (PG-13) Set in the
1940s, Married Life stars Academy
Award winner Chris Cooper as Harry
Allen, a middle-aged man who falls in
love with a younger woman (Rachel
McAdams) and decides to spare his
wife (Patricia Clarkson) the humiliation
of divorce by poisoning her to death
Wow. director Ira Sachs's film sounds
uplifting Based on John Binghams
novel. Five Floundabouts to Heaven
NEW YEAR BABY (NR) 2006 Born
on the Cambodian New Year in a
Thai refugee camp. Socheata Poeuv
travels to her native land to learn the
truth about her family and how they
survived the Khmer Rouge Poeuv's
documentary has won numerous
awards from festivals in Dallas. New
York, Los Angeles. San Francisco and
Indianapolis but my favorite is the
Movies That Matter Award from the
Amsterdam International Documentary
Film Festival. New Year Baby is another
offering from the award-winning ITVS
series Part of the ACC Library's iFilms
senes
NIM S ISLAND
a serviceable family friendly adventure
tilm. Imaginative Nim (Abigail Breslmj
lives on an isolatec island in the South
Pacific with her oad (Gerarq Butler) ana
concocts adventures mirroring those of
her favorite fictional hero the worlds
greatest adventurer Alex Rover
THE OTHER BOLEYN GIRL (PG-13)
The Other Boleyn Girl watches like a TV
network's World Premiere Movie Event
yet Showtime's ' The Tudors" easily
out-acts, out-sexes and outclasses this
boring bodice-ripper based on Philippa
Gregory's bestseller
PROM NIGHT (PG-13) Sharing little
more tnan a title, a setting, and some
dead teens with Jamie Lee Curtis's
popular 1980 slasher flick, the new
Prom Night is as dreadful as the worst
of the four proms I attended.
REDBELT (R) Top mixed martial arts
instructor Mike Terry (Chiwetel Ejiofor)
doesn't like to fight. But after a fateful
run-in with a movie star (Tim Allen)
leads the financially struggling Mike to
a job in the film industry, he finds him
self drawn into a game where he might
have to fight for his honor. The shock
ing news about this grown up Never
Back Down, it's written and directed by
acclaimed playwright David Mamet.
With Emily Mortimer, Alice Braga,
Randy Couture and David Paymer, as
well as Mamet regulars, Ricky Jay, Joe
Mantegna and Rebecca Pidgeon
SHUTTER (PG-13) This slice of pitiful
PG-13 horror pie fasted just fine to its
target audience. The 13 (and unders)
in the theater were scared out of their
minds by this predictable A-horror
remake.
SNOW ANGELS (R) Southern
auteur David Gordon Green (George
Washington. All the Beal Girls, and
UndertovY] may be making the jump
to the big-time with August's Apatow-
produced Pineapple Express, but art
house fans shouldn't feel abandoned
DGG's still making complex dramas of
small town life. In Snow Angels, a sin
gle gunshot unites a teenager, his old
babysitter, her estranged husband and
their daughter. With Kate Beckinsale.
Sam Rockwell and Amy Sedaris
SPEED RACER (PG) Never being
a big fan of the popular Japanese
cartoon, I did not anticipate being this
excited for Speed Racer, but the candy-
colored race world created by the
Wachowski Brothers looks invitingly
wacky Speed Racer (Emile Hirsch)
hails from a family of gearheads, and
all he wants to do is race. With the help
of girlfriend Trixie (Christina Ricci) and
a mysterious masked competitor, Racer
X (Matthew Fox), Speed attempts to
win the big race called The Crucible
THE SPIDERWICK CHRONICLES
(PG) The Spiderwick Chronicles is
based on a series of bestselling books
by Terry DiTerlizzi and Holly Black
about the Grace siblings, twins Jared
and Simon (Freddie Highmore) and
sister Mallory (Sarah Bolger). who
discover a fantastical world existing
unseen within our own after they move
into the creepy old house that belonged
to their great granduncle, Arthur
Spiderwick (David Strathairn)
UNDER THE SAME MOON (PG-13)
Under the Same Moon, the film that
broke the box office record for big
gest opening weekend for 3 Spanish
language film in the U S, breaks down
the controversy over illegal immigra
tion into a simplistic fairy tale All
nine-year-o'd Carlitos wants i$ to come
to the U S to join his mother Rosario
After his sickly abuela dies. Carlitos
takes matters into his own hands,
enlisting some college kids (America
Ferrera.i to smuggle him across the
border The film the feature debut of
director Patricia Riggen. really dcesnt
come alive until Carlitos meets Enrique
(Eugenio Derbezi a gruff illegal
emigrant who begrudgingly agrees to
help the young boy get to Los Angeles
Writer Ligiah Villalobos s scenarios are
manipulative, contrived, and sappy
but Under me Same Moon emerges
rrom that suffocating melodramatic
plastic thanks to the incredibly charm
ing Alonso, who puts a beatific face
upon the millions of anonymous iiiega;
immigrants presently living in the U S.
VANTAGE POINT PG-1
ever-expanding genre of action movies
for old people. Dennis Quaid is like
Arnold Schwarzeneggar in his '80s
heyday. Too bad the slam-bang prem
ise of Quaid's latest action film for your
parents, Vantage Point, gives out short
of the climax
WHAT HAPPENS IN VEGAS
(PG-13) While on vacation in Vegas to
drown their woes in gambling, alcohol
and general excess, Joy (Cameron
Diaz) and Jack (Ashton Kutcher) leave
Sin City married millionaires. After
being sentenced by a judge (Dennis
Miller) to six months of marriage
before either can touch the money. Joy
and Jack learn they might actually like
one another. Hopefully, the presence
of Rob Corddry as Jack's wacky buddy
will balance out that of Queen Latifah
as their therapist.
Drew Wheeler
26 FLAGPOLE.COM • MAY 7, 2008
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